Former Senate President David Mark has joined the presidential race, promising to fix the economy in two years.

Addressing officials of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) when he picked the presidential nomination form at the party’s secretariat in Abuja on Tuesday, Mark said his military background is an added advantage.

He retired as a brigadier general in the Nigerian army.

Mark said judging by the number of people who have picked the PDP presidential nomination form, “you can comfortably say that PDP is the choice part in the country”.

Senate President Bukola Saraki; former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar; Aminu Tambuwal, governor of Sokoto state; Rabiu Kwankwaso, former governor of Kano state, are among the bigwigs who have picked PDP presidential form.

“Anybody who has come here to collect the forms has a blueprint; the blueprint which we title 7:30 representing just two years,” he said.

“In two years, if given the opportunity, we will turn the economy of this country round, we will solve these security problems, we will bring Nigerians together. The level of distrust in the government today has never been experienced in the history of this country.

“I have a very good military background and has been in politics since 1998. I think I have got the credentials to be able to do what I have promised my team.

“Obviously there are priority areas and restructuring is one of them. I think the time has come to restructure this country.”

On Monday, Paul Mumeh, spokesman of the ex-senate president, told TheCable that there was the possibility of Mark running for the highest office in the land.